City Offer For Building Exceeds Appraisal

The Cheyenne City Council Finance Committee on Monday signed off on an offer of $1.986 million to purchase the former Dineen Car Dealership for a Public Safety Building to house the Cheyenne Police Department, Cheyenne Fire and Rescue Department and other emergency responders.

An appraisal conducted for the city last fall had set the value of the property at $1.665 million. Mayor Rick Kaysen says the Dineen family, which owns the property, had challenged that appraisal as being too low, adding the family was under no obligation to sell the property . The committee on Monday voted 3-0 in favor of the purchase offer, which now goes to the full city council for consideration. However, Finance Committee Chair Jim Brown, who does not vote in committee, said he was concerned about the possibility that a local government purchasing a property for more than the appraised value may be a violation of state law.

Mayor Kaysen says he does not believe that is true, but said the city would research the matter further before the proposal goes to the full city council. Local voters approved the Public Safety Building project on last year's sixth-penny sales tax ballot.